RICHMOND, Va. - In Virginia an 8-year-old boy was killed while trying to protect his 12-year-old sister from a suspected rapist. Turns out, the suspect isn't much older than the victims.

Hurt, pain and unimaginable grief gripping a south Richmond community. A difficult time for everyone on the block, especially a family struggling to deal with the murder of an energetic 8-year-old boy.

He was a little boy loved ones call a hero for trying to protect his sister. Intervening, police say, as his 12-year-old sister was being attacked behind their Brandon Road home, near a railroad track.

Police say the suspect is a teenager. Neighbors believe the children knew him.

"For something like this to happen it's just heartbreaking and my heart goes out to the family," said neighbor Felicia Moody.

Moody is sickened by the crime and can't help but think about her own grandchildren.

"Brother tried to save his sister and was killed in the mix of it all, and that's sad because if my granddaughter was out here and something was happening to her I'm pretty sure my grandson would help her also," she said.

Too distraught to speak to WTVR-TV, the children's mother allowed community activists and evangelist Markeita Boyd to talk with us. She says it's going to take an entire community to lock arms, lean on each other and stand up for a little boy who never thought twice about standing up for a sister he loved.

"It don't always have to be monetary, if you just stop and hug her you know, just hug her and love on her because no words can explain or express what it feels like to lose a child," said Boyd.